The long ears of The Buddha in art: iconographic history?

Factual Questions
1

Any ideas, history, on those long ears in statues and paintings?

2

Cecil in 2007

3

Wow that was fast. Also I learn right at the top that the guy I and a zillion others think is a representation of The Buddha, is a popular one of a Buddha, and the Big Guy Himself is portrayed as a svelte guy.

Anyway, the fat happy one with the ears is what Cecil talks about, and about the ears themselves that they are the all- hearing nature of the Buddha, and that they were lengthened by the heavy ear jewelry he had before his big change.

Why the fat happy guy is the one I (everybody?) always see is another story, I’m sure a very long one. (Not sarcasm.)

4

Aside: In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei (who became the ruler of Shu) was described to have earlobes that went to his shoulders and arms past his knees, apparently marking him as having emperor-like features (that, or he was an orangutan).

5

I was just told by my brother, an even more know-it-all than I am, that our ears and nose never stops growing, albeit slowly, which is why you often notice big ears of old people.

I called screaming bullshit on that one. Response?

Might make this a thread.

6

Will make that a thread. Such an important question deserves a wider audience.

7

It’s because that’s the one that’s in all of the Chinese restaurants. How many of us regularly go into Buddhist temples?

I prefer the skinny one. The fat one is laughing, but the skinny one has a more serene smile that evokes a feeling of inner peace. At least in me.

8

Also, Bodhisattvas will look like Buddhas, except that they’ll have some princely bling-- jewelry and crowns and such. You can pin down individual Buddhas and Bodhisattvas via some small details: for example, Avalokiteshvara/Guan-yin/Kannon (the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion) will have a tiny Amida/Amitabha (the Buddha of Infinite Light/the Western Paradise) in his crown. Shakyamuni (the Historical Buddha, the dude from Nepal in 3rd c BCE) will look like a very simple monk making one of a couple of specific mudra hand gestures (the Dharmachakra mudra, often)

9

The fat guy is Budai/Hotai.